The United States Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Joseph Dunford will visit Ankara on Tuesday to hold a series of meetings with Turkish counterpart Hulusi Akar, Anadolu Agency reported.

Dunford is to meet with Akar at General Staff Headquarters in Ankara and also expected to meet with Turkey's Defense Minister İsmet Yılmaz. The meetings are expected to cover various regional topics, including Turkey's deployment of forces in Iraq's Bashiqa and the downing of the Russian jet in November.

Dunford's visit to Ankara comes at a time, when tensions have increased between Iran and Saudi Arabia over the execution of Shiite cleric Nimr al-Nimr by Saudi authorities, in addition to the ongoing events in the region due to the Syrian civil war.